Angelina College Hosts Scholarship Signing for Arts Students

'Tis the season for scholarship presentations, and the Angelina College’s School of Visual and Performing Arts on Wednesday held its annual Scholarship Signing Day inside the Angelina Center for the Arts building. 22 incoming students from throughout East Texas were on hand to sign their scholarship letters to join one of the school’s four major arts divisions: Visual and Graphic Arts, Theater, Choir and Music.

Director Beckie Compton said there are other students who weren’t able to attend Wednesday’s event, and that the school is still in the process of recruiting, so the numbers will continue to grow.

“I want our community to see that we’re still rebuilding and growing our programs (after the pandemic), and that live events such as theater, music and art exhibits are still very important to people in our community,” Compton said.

“This kind of day is special for the students in that it’s an opportunity for them to feel welcome,” Compton said. “For some incoming freshmen, this may be their first time visiting our campus, and we want them to know they’re now part of a family.

“It’s also a big deal to get to meet the instructors ahead of time, so on that first day of class, there’ll be a recognition factor there for them, and they’ll feel more comfortable. This day is also a way for us to get the students excited about being here.”

Following is the list of students (with hometowns, if offered), their chosen programs and the corresponding instructors:

Visual Arts (Le’Anne Alexander, instructor): Meghan Spivey Shieres, Jordan Tarver (Lufkin) and Sarah Godwin (Lufkin).

Graphic Arts (Reg Reynolds, instructor): Miguel Corral, Thoren Flowers (Diboll), Ryleigh Swann (Nacogdoches), Clint Lively (Lufkin) and Avery Sullivan.

Theater (Kary Raine, instructor): Madeline Gipson (Lufkin), Devyn Hines (Lovelady), Victoria Steptoe (Lufkin) and Phoebey Clark (Lufkin).

Choir (Beckie Compton, instructor): Valerie Bonilla, Mir Raciv Tyaman (Philippines), Ruby Hammond (Hudson) and Destiny Williams (Central).

Band (Paul Berler, instructor): Jacob Hall (Hudson), Adrianna Martinez (Diboll), Shaun Monroe (Huntington), Angel Brown (Hudson), Joseph Flores (Lufkin), Clarissa Garcia (Lufkin) and Angel Rodriguez Ibarra (Hudson).